The is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

containing the ruins of a

Jōmon period The is the time in Japanese history, traditionally dated between 6,000–300 BCE, during which Japan was inhabited by a diverse hunter-gatherer and early agriculturalist population united through a common Jōmon culture, which reached a c ...

settlement located in what is now part of the city of

Mitsuke, Niigata is a city located in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 39,908 in 15,139 households, and a population density of 510 persons per km². The total area of the city is , making it the smallest city in Niigata Prefec ...

in the

Hokuriku region The was located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lay along the Sea of Japan within the Chūbu region, which it is currently a part of. It is almost equivalent to Koshi Province and Hokurikudō area in pre-modern ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The site was designated a National Historic Site of Japan in 2015.

Overview

The Mimitori ruins are located in the Higashiyama Hills in the eastern portion of the Niigata Plain, on a ridge with an elevation of 76 meters. The size of this village ruin extends over 16,000 square meters, which makes it the largest in the Hokuriku region. The settlement existed from the middle Jōmon period (3000 to 2000 BC) through the late and final Jōmon period (2000 to 300 BC) and covered three overlapping areas. The middle Jōmon settlement was in the center of the hill, with houses in a horseshoe-shaped configuration around a central plaza, measuring 60 meters north-to-south by 70 meters east-to-west. The foundations of 12 oval-shaped

pit dwelling A pit-house (or ''pit house'', ''pithouse'') is a house built in the ground and used for shelter. Besides providing shelter from the most extreme of weather conditions, these structures may also be used to store food (just like a pantry, a larder ...

s measuring 8 x 3 meters were found, as was a large (10.6 centimeter)

jadeite Jadeite is a pyroxene mineral with composition sodium, Naaluminium, Alsilicon, Si2oxygen, O6. It is hard (Mohs hardness of about 6.5 to 7.0), very tough, and dense, with a specific gravity of about 3.4. It is found in a wide range of colors, bu ...

sphere. The settlement expanded in the late Jōmon period to the west, forming a donut-shape, 200 meters north-to-south by 118 meters east-to-west with a central plaza 18 meters in diameter. A total of 66 pit dwelling foundations were found in this area. A

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

was also discovered from this period. The final Jōmon period extended to the east of the original settlement. The style of buildings appears to have transitioned to elevated floor buildings. The pillar hole about 130 centimeters in diameter and was dug more than one meter deep, and a pillar about 50 centimeters in diameter was erected in it. Only two buildings were confirmed, but 36 similar holes were found in a wide area on the eastern side of the ruins. These are also considered to be pillar holes of the same building. The site has been known since the end of the 19th century as a location where

Jōmon pottery The is a type of ancient earthenware pottery which was made during the Jōmon period in Japan. The term "Jōmon" () means "rope-patterned" in Japanese, describing the patterns that are pressed into the clay. Outline Oldest pottery in Jap ...

and

stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...

s could be found; however, it was not first excavated until 1967 after a spate of tomb robberies occurred in the area. As a result of these survey results, the momentum for protecting the ruins increased, and a development plan for a large-scale housing area in 1987 was canceled. From 2011 to 2014, and in 2016 the Mitsuke City Board of Education conducted excavations.

References

External links

Mitsuke city official site
{{in lang, ja Jōmon period History of Nagano Prefecture Mitsuke, Niigata Archaeological sites in Japan Historic Sites of Japan

Overview

See also

References

External links